TIME FOR TURNBULL TO GET REAL ON SNOWY

Under Malcolm Turnbull energy policy is a complete shambles, power prices are skyrocketing and he has no serious climate change policy while pollution is going up, and up, and up.

Labor will look at the details of the Commonwealth’s purchase of Snowy Hydro but we will not support anything that includes a plan to privatise the iconic Snowy Hydro scheme. The Government needs to commit to keeping Snowy in the hands of the Australian people in the future.
 
 It’s time Malcolm Turnbull got real and admitted the fact that the expansion of Snowy Hydro is inconsistent with his government’s coal-fired vision for Australia’s energy future.

The Turnbull Government has repeatedly said it would like to extend the life of ageing coal stations and build new ones at taxpayers’ expense. Experts have warned that their ill-defined National Energy Guarantee (NEG) will “decimate” large scale renewable energy investment.

Yet Snowy Hydro themselves have said this is a project that will only stack up with ambitious renewable energy investment, and it will benefit from an ambitious national renewable energy target, like Labor’s commitment to 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030.

When asked during Senate Estimates, Snowy Hydro confirmed that the building of new coal-fired power stations would put the viability of Snowy 2.0, at risk.

It is no wonder that the release of modelling commissioned as part of the Snowy 2.0 feasibility study, which shows the project is most beneficial with 60 percent renewables by 2040, was delayed by government.  

The Liberals constant attacks on renewable energy will jeopardise the viability of Snowy 2.0.

Only Labor’s vision for Australia’s clean energy future will secure reliability, affordability and bring down pollution levels.